EVENTS

Death of a Salesman

Wife of televangelist Eddie Long files for divorce as Long’s career crumbles.

You know, in the grand scheme of things there are not a lot of televangelists in the world. But boy oh boy do they always seem to get into trouble, perhaps disproportionately so. I don’t know if that is true, but someone should do a study. I guess it’s the trifecta of fame, sex, and power. The great tri-force of greed caught another man of god while I was gone and the fallout is settling. Eddie Long, you were a bad boy.

Not only is Long allegedly among the ranks of dirty molesters of children as demonstrated when he recently settled “a lawsuit filed by four young men who accused him of pressuring them into sexual relationships while they were teenagers and members of Long’s congregation at New Life Missionary Church in Lithonia, Georgia.” Which is both really freaking sad and even worse, these types of actions are almost what we expect from pastor these days.

But wait, there is more. Mr. Long was also pushing a Ponzi scheme. In his sermons he urged his flock to invest with his personal friend, Ephren Taylor Jr. The problem was that Ephren investment scheme, which promised a 20% return on all investments, turned out to be too good to be true. Long’s followers were led to believe that god itself had sanctified the investment and many lost their entire life savings to the fraud. What makes me think Mr. Long is guilty is an apparent pattern of dishonesty. Long settled out of court in the molestation case in order to prevent the details from getting aired before a judge and he continues to defend Mr. Taylor months after the Ponzi scheme story broke and subsequent investigation revealed the dishonest financial practice.

While many of Mr. Long’s defrauded followers continue their spiritual relationship with him, his wife has decided to cut all ties and file for divorce. That decision is probably good for her and this whole incident is yet another reminder that power corrupts and in the end, you reap what you sow.

What gets me is Long continuing to defend Ephren Taylor after the truth came out. Eddie has a problem with reality. Maybe his wife divorced him to get away from the law suits that she knows are coming.

These people have lost their life-savings in the one Ponzi scheme! Can’t blame them I suppose. The bible is full of rules about almost everything, but it is missing the very important, “Thou shalt not put all thy eggs in the same basket.”